- #1
peter.ell
- 43
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I know the phase vs group question has been asked before, but I really don't quite understand it. I've read in various places that the phase velocity of a light wave has been made to go faster than C, and in others that the group velocity has been made to go faster than C, and even made negative so that it appears to exit a medium before it even enters. This is called anomalous dispersion, but what in the world does this mean?
What, conceptually, is the difference between phase velocity and group velocity, which is the one that can really go faster than C, and how can it do so?
Refer to this for the source of my questions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispersion_(optics)#Group_and_phase_velocity
Thank you so much!
What, conceptually, is the difference between phase velocity and group velocity, which is the one that can really go faster than C, and how can it do so?
Refer to this for the source of my questions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispersion_(optics)#Group_and_phase_velocity
Thank you so much!